3 Year Wedding Anniversary

Can you believe that this was 3 years ago?!

Every year has been different from the last since we've been married. But, I say that in a good way. Every year has been better than the last. I can't wait to see what our lives have in store for us in the future.

To celebrate our anniversary, Pete actually stayed home from work. Shocker!!! That man is a workaholic in the summer. And since we don't have family out here in Colorado, Harlow got to join us again. ( I say 'again' because she also joined us on our 2 year anniversary in Seattle last summer. Which turned out to be a HUGE disaster. She was only 4 months old and had her first complete meltdown... in the middle of a restaurant.) But this year was much more of a success.

We figured we should do something to entertain her since she and I spend a lot of time together and not around other kids. So we went to The Children's Museum of Denver. It has a special room just for kids newborn to 4 years old. It also has a lot of other rooms, each with a different theme. And everything was created for kids to touch, feel, explore and imagine. It was actually pretty cool. Harlow had a ton of fun.

Please ignore the blue socks. For this room you are required to wear socks and Harlow and I wear not wearing any on this day. So they give you loaners. So gross! Especially if you know me and how I feel about feet/socks. I too had to wear loaners. I cringe just thinking about it.








Testing out the fishing area.


Harlow inside one of the playhouses.








Harlow and Daddy checking out the Fire Engine. A real fire engine with working lights and sounds. She wasn't too impressed with it. I'm pretty sure she was terrified of all the sounds.




And then there was a room full of trains. Not real trains though, just thousands of pieces of train sets.


And Harlow's favorite room, The Bubble Room.


This bubble was pretty cool, it pops and evaporates instantly. I didn't read what made it do that though... oops.










Daddy made HUGE bubbles for Harlow to pop.


She really loves this one. Standing inside a bubble.












rubbing crayons over animal prints.


Checking out the tree trunk.


And another personal favorite of hers was this room that was for pretend. You could dress up in costume, dance, or wear tap shoes. She loves the tutu I put on her and immediately started doing turns in front of the mirror in it. She loves to dance.






Mommy and Harlow.




Harlow and Daddy in front of the Fire Engine.


Leaving the museum.


Pete and I took a picture with the self-timer to remember the day.




We finished the night by going to our favorite restaurant, Joe's Crab Shack. Pete and I love crab and so does Harlow. So we decided we'd buy her a souvenir. This is her right before bedtime, trying on her new shirt and hamming it up with her "ta-da's".

Can't wait for next year. It only gets better!

Harlow's Newest Friend

At our apartment here in Colorado, we have discovered that the wildlife is never very far. On a daily basis we see birds, rabbits, raccoons, squirrels, and chipmunks. And our apartment patio is a hot spot for them to come and play. So we started leaving seeds and nuts for them because Harlow really loves to watch from the patio window. Usually 2 baby chipmunks play and wrestle and hide in our patio closet but recently a squirrel has been taking over. He isn't exactly the neatest eater and usually likes to come at night when the blinds are already closed. But, we finally caught him in the act.







Harlow usually ends up scaring the animals away (and the dogs go nuts) but Harlow still loves to stare out the window and wait for them to come back. She likes to say "do you see" over and over again, even when they aren't there.

15 Months Old

At 15 Months Harlow is proving to be her own person with her own thoughts. She is more independent than ever. And she can be just a tad bit bossy. She can be sweet and 5 seconds later, sassy. She has a stubborn streak that can blow you away! But, she is possibly the easiest baby to deal with. And it's impossible to stay mad at her for long. Now that she has mastered saying "sorry". You can't be angry when she says "sorry" in her sweet tiny voice. I'm pretty sure she has Pete and I figured out. And she knows just how to play us. But that's ok. I love watching her Daddy melt for her.

In the last month Harlow has learned some new words.

Including:
Tiger
Sheep
Teeth
Pee Pee
Pretty
Down
Hungry
Bunny
Car
Truck
Bow
Sorry
Silly
Alligator
Octopus
Morning
Lion
Monkey
Applesauce
Paci
Please
More
Shirt
Pants
Mia (Cousin Amelia)
Happy Birth-Day
No
Mimi (Japanese for Ears)
Dako (Japanese for Hold Me)
Touch
Catch
Miss You
Home
Mickey
Mouse
Cute
Bumpy
Food
Milk
Blue
Yellow
Book
Nose
Yea
K
Yeah!

She Can:
attempt to put her own shoes on
get in a forward roll position when asked (we've been doing gymnastics in the living room)
Do turns (we've been having dance class in the living room too)
point to each facial feature when asked. (head, eyes, ears, mouth, teeth, nose)
and her hands
feet
legs
tummy
and bottom.

She Loves:
Her Mickey Mouse stuffed animal.
Trucks
Bath time
The swings
Cousin Amelia






Forward Roll Position (when asked, she will assume this position and wait for help)

Baby, You're a Firework...

We've spent the last 4 years in a different state for the 4th of July. But this is only Harlow's second Independence Day. We decided to watch some fireworks at a park in Parker, Co. We went with Zach and Katie. Zach is the lead technician for Pete's office and Katie is his fiance who also works for Pinnacle and schedules all of the technicians to jobs.

We actually had really great seats to the firework show. We weren't far from where they were being launched. Harlow was pretty tired by the time the show started and was fast asleep by the time we got back to the car. But for the most part, I think she enjoyed it.

Happy 4th of July!

I should really be saying Happy Independence Day! I don't know what happened to my sweet, go-with-the-flow baby. In the past few weeks she has taken on a whole new identity of being independent. The words I hear most these days are "down", "walk" and sadly "no". I don't really know how she picked up on the word "no" because we try not to say that word around her. My worst fear was that my child would turn in to that obnoxious kid who only screamed "NO!" at everything. We try and say "ah ah ah" when we want her to stop something (which she also repeats but seems less bratty).

I suspect that a lot of her independence has to do with her new found talent of walking/running as well as talking. She has gotten so smart. I know every mother says that, but really, she is SMART. Sometimes too smart. I constantly find myself staring at her, asking myself, "how did she learn that?!"

I also find myself stopping what I'm doing to figure out a way to outsmart her. I know, I know, it will only get harder from here!

Here's my beautiful baby in her 4th of July outfit.